SCUTTLEBUTT 1390 - August 11, 2003

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DIAZ & ROGERS WIN SNIPE WORLDS
Borstahusen, Landskrona, Sweden - US sailors Augie Diaz with crew Jon
Rogers have won the 2003 Snipe World Championship. This was an exciting
regatta start to finish; with varying wind strengths, challenging currents,
and strong competition from 18 countries. It has been 22 years since an
American has won this title. It was strong showing for US sailors with four
boats in the top ten and nine boats in the top half of the fleet.

PAN AM GAMES
SANTO DOMINGO, R.D. (August 10, 2003) ­ The U.S.A. won its second sailing
gold medal Sunday after its J/24 team won the first of two final races at
the Pan Am Games, edging out their last-threat -- Brazil -- to do so.
Skipper Tim Healy (Newport, R.I.) and crew Nick Judson (Nantucket, Mass.),
Gordon Borges (Newport, R.I.) and Davenport Crocker (Cohasset, Mass.) are
part of the U.S.A.'s 13-member Pan American Games Team-Sailing, which
wrapped up competition today in Santo Domingo. The Pan Am Games sailing
competition hosted a total of 114 sailors from 17 countries, sailing in
seven classes (eight disciplines).

The U.S.A. won its first medal -- also a gold -- when Mistral Women's
sailor Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) turned in two race victories to
make it mathematically impossible for anyone to catch her in Sunday's
finals. Having secured the gold, Butler sat out Sunday's races. Canada and
Argentina took silver and bronze, respectively.

"Twenty five percent of our events yielded gold medals, and all of our team
members had significant moments of glory," said Team Leader Fred Hagedorn
(Chicago, Ill.). - Media Pro Int'l

STEVEN BARBANO WINS OPTI NATIONALS
Chicago Yacht Club - Heavy air blowing 10 to 15 knots coupled with
three-foot swells made for exciting racing for the three hundred sailors,
ages 7-15 at the Opti Nationals. The conditions also opened the door for
Steven Barbano, 14, of Cranbury, NJ, to move from eighth place to first and
become the 2003 Opti US National Champion. Earlier in the week, light winds
ranging from zero to eight knots produced delayed starts and choppy waters
and threatened to throw the five-day event off schedule. However, race
officials were able to run four races Thursday and three races Friday to
complete the 12-race, (two discards) schedule.

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ADMIRAL'S CUP DELAY?
All the signs are that the next Admiral's Cup may not be until 2006, and
that it will be in even years from then on, with the Commodores' Cup
switching to odd years.

The one-week delay in next year's Skandia Cowes Week is a one-off to
counter the strongest tides in 150 years, but the manoeuvring behind the
restructuring of the Admiral's Cup is much more complex. It hinges on the
work being done by an international committee to develop a new system for
calculating performance and, therefore, handicap.

Unfortunately it has a commercial angle - everyone has to pay to have their
boat rated - and, inevitably, it has a political angle as countries defend
their points of view. So, it may take another 18 months until a new rule is
agreed and boats can be built, which is too late for the 2005 Admiral's Cup
- and 2007 is an America's Cup year.

BUZZARDS BAY REGATTA
The 31st annual Buzzards Bay Regatta, hosted by the New Bedford Yacht Club,
attracted 1300 sailors competing on 420 boats. Light winds (8-10 knots)
prevailed and on all three days there was a very persistent fog that
sometimes reduced visibility to yards. Nearly 100 big boats participated in
the event with Glenn Harden taking top honors in the 21-boat J/105 class.
Rob Crane of Connecticut took 1st out of a fleet of 57 Lasers while Cy
Thompson, of the Virgin Islands topped the fleet of 59 Laser Radials. The
420 Class with 123 boats was won by Ben Sampson and Mike Komar. -
http://www.BuzzardsBayRegatta.com/

ONE-DESIGN MEANS NOT HAVING ANY HANDICAPS
A lot of sailors swear by one-design sailing. To keep them from swearing at
it, Henri Lloyd's One-Design line has everything one-design racers need to
stay dry and go fast: TP2 Sprint Hood Smock and Salopette, TP2 Sprint
Smock, TP3 Competition Jacket, and TP3 Drysuits. They're all at
http://www.henrilloydonline.com

NAPLES SABOT JUNIOR NATIONALS
195 competitors gathered in Newport Beach August 4-7 for the Naples Sabot
Junior Nationals. After a Qualifying Series Monday and Flight Selection
Series Tuesday in sunshine and 6-8 knot southwesterlies, 120 remaining
competitors squared off in the Championship Series Wednesday and Thursday.
Conditions lightened to a fickle 4-5 knot southerly both days before the
afternoon westerly finally filled in at 6-8 knots for the final race.
Charlie Buckingham dominated the Gold Flight carding a 2-1-2-2-1, closing
the series with a wire to wire horizon job. Charlie also won Flight
Selection, and was the low point skipper for the week. Justin Law and
Adrienne Patterson closed out their Sabot careers with 2nd and 3rd, and the
home fleet took 9 of the top 10 positions. After a disappointing Selection
Series, 2002 Champion Tyler Sinks displayed both skill and sportsmanship to
capture the Silver Flight. George Saunders captured the Bronze Flight, and
Shannon Walker won the Iron Flight. - Scott Mason, http://nhyc.org/

FASTNET RACE
A slow, hot race was in prospect but there was a brisk and cooling breeze
for the 248 entries in the Rolex Fastnet Race, which set off from Cowes
yesterday morning. Ahead of them were 608 miles in conditions where sun
block was likely to be more in evidence than oilskins. Just past Yarmouth,
before the yachts had even left the Solent, predictions of developing sea
breezes from the south-west had already come true, though that meant
working against a headwind.

Some pessimists, looking forward by two to three days, were predicting a
vast, windless area around the Isles of Scilly, which would create a major
parking area. The sight of the yachts leaving the Medina River dutifully
testing, as the rules require, their storm sails seemed rather
incongruous.The 608-mile course takes them down the Channel, across the
Irish Sea and out to the Fastnet Rock, with its famous lighthouse, just off
the south-west tip of Ireland. Once round it, they make their way back to
the finish in Plymouth, and, for some, it could be a long way. - Stuart
Alexander, The independent, full story:
http://sport.independent.co.uk/general/story.jsp?story=432489

* Robert McNeil's Australian built Zephyrus V made the best start and was
first to the new breeze. Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeo, having burst a
spinnaker on the run down the Solent, lost more time with a re-hoist
problem giving the 86 foot sled Zephyrus V a three time mile at the
Needles. However 90 miles into the race, Alfa Romeo is now back in the
lead, a mile ahead of Zephyrus V. -
http://www.boating-online.com.au/welcome.cfm

JOHN KOSTECKI
Team New Zealand has lost out to Oracle BMW Racing in securing veteran
American sailor John Kostecki. Team New Zealand managing director Grant
Dalton said yesterday that he understood Kostecki had signed with Chris
Dickson's Oracle. "It is unfortunate from our point of view, but it is not
the end of the world," Dalton said. "He would have been a good one to have,
but there are other people and we are already pursuing other options."

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HOT IDEA / HOT BOAT
On the eve of the 37th Governor's Cup Regatta, the United States Junior
Match Racing Championship, the Newport Balboa Sailing and Seamanship
Association ("NBSSA") christened the initial fleet of the new Governor's
Cup 21 class. The first eleven boats of the Class will be used in Balboa
Yacht Club's Governor's Cup match racing which runs August 13-17. The 21
foot racing sloop was designed by BYC member Alan Andrews of Long Beach,
California and the construction of the fleet was funded entirely through
contributions from members of Balboa Yacht Club.

The boats, chartered by BYC for the Governor's Cup and another major
sailing event, will also be available for charter to other yacht clubs and
organizations for events that are consistent with NBSSA's educational and
charitable mission. Boats will also be available for sale to other clubs or
private owners with the first boats being available in late September,
2003. Andrews and boat builder Bravura Yachts President Leif Beiley are
working on a strict set of one design rules to ensure that all of the
Governor's Cup 21s remain equal and consistent with the design philosophy.

LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON (editor@sailingscuttlebutt.com)
(Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be
edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is not a chat room or a
bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best
shot and don't whine if others disagree.)

* From Adrian Morgan: I'd simply like to know why it took 20 years before
the man who won the America's Cup for Australia, breaking the 'longest
winning streak in history' finally got indicted (is that the word?) into
the Hall of Fame. Can anyone be more famous? Has anyone any suggestions why
Alan Bond has only joined this illustrious band now? We need to know.

* From Cam Lewis: Safety on the water around sailors- kids windsurfers-
kite boarders-(my newest sport) anybody for that matter. I have not
researched the subject very far, but a few years back I borrowed a great
military spec soft bottom, 16 foot Zodiac and Yamaha 40HP jet drive
outboard for an Outside magazine shoot from Inflatable Experts. We were
using a Formula 40 cat and the combination of inflatable and outboard with
driver and photographer could keep up with us at speed.

With two quick calls this morning I found that Yamaha makes 40-60-90 &115
HP outboards with jet drives. I would strongly urge everybody involved in
the sport of sailing to think long and hard about the type of engines they
use near and around other people, especially people in coach boats, tow
boats etc. I trust that US Sailing has endorsed this style of power in
their manuals for sail training and motor boat handling.

As I said I have not looked too far into this, but having started Kite
Sailing I am ready to trade in my Yamaha 50 hp prop on my Hobie Power Skiff
for a jet drive outboard for safety reasons as I expect to use it in the
future as coach and rescue boat for this great sport and for my kids
blooming sailing interests.

* From Ralph Taylor: Rich Roberts' article on Kimberly Birkenfield,
combined with the German Tornado crew's incident, indicates the ISAF may
have some unfinished business regarding coach boats during practices. It's
probably less important to assign blame than to prevent similar tragedies
in the future. My off-the-top-of-the-head take: Separate the practicing
teams on the water; don't let 'em mix. Too many boats going fast in too
confined a space is a formula for disaster. And, just maybe, there should
be some sort of licensing/accreditation procedure for coaches, which should
include safety.

CURMUDGEON'S COUNSEL
Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the
same night